VHP Photo Glossary: Dome lava fountain

Photograph by J.B. Judd on 11 October 1969.

Dome fountain

Dome fountains are hemispherically shaped lava fountains that
form when the upward pressure of magma from the conduit below
is in approximate equilibrium with the mass of ponded lava
through which it passes. Dome fountains may reach as high as
several tens of meters, and they typically occur in relatively
gas-poor lavas.

The dome fountain shown here is about 20 m tall
and formed during the 1969-71
Mauna Ulu eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i.